What If? The Marvel Corps
by J.A.Phillips
Summary: In a world without Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man, or Thor, who would be the world's protectors? They are the Marvel Corps. Just an idea I wanted to get out for people's opinions. Rated T for safety.


**_DISCLAIMER:_** **The main protagonists of this story were created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, G. Willow Wilson, Sana Amanat, Adrian Alphona, Brian Michael Bendis, and Sara Pichelli.**

* * *

 _In the Marvel Universe, there exist many, many individuals who are considered superheroes. Iron Man, a billionaire philanthropist who decided to use his family's vast wealth to help others in a near-invincible suit of armour. Ant-Man, a genius who discovered a way to change the size of himself and his partner, the Wasp, while also gaining amazing abilities. Captain America, a super soldier, patriot, and veteran of World War II who was frozen in the Atlantic and defrosted in modern times. The Hulk, a scientist bombarded with gamma rays that turned him into an incredible and often-misunderstood powerhouse. Thor, the mighty God of Thunder brought to Earth to learn humility and ultimately came to love the world he'd swear to protect. Together, they and several other such heroes form what is known as The Avengers, saving the world from terrorists, super-powered beings, alien invaders, and supernatural threats._

 _However, what if there existed a world in very similar need of heroes, but there was no Avengers team, and many of Earth's Mightiest Heroes never even existed? What if there was a world where none of the other superhero teams of the Marvel Universe, and many of their members, never came to be? Who would be the protectors of such a world...and would they even truly be superheroes?_

* * *

 _ **13:52, May 26th**_  
 _ **Queens, NY**_

"And that's why we're proud to unveil the new monorail system connecting Long Island to the mainland, courtesy of Parker Industries!" a man standing on a podium declared, the rather large audience standing before him cheering in approval. "Unfortunately, Mr. Parker could not be here today for the grand unveiling, but he did leave his thanks for all of the support on the project that you have given, and his everlasting gratitude and loyalty to the people of the state of New York!"

Once again, the crowd cheered loudly. They had come to see this new monorail, and were not disappointed by the large yet sleek train that was set on the rails, which ran on a newer, cleaner energy source. With it, many of the older methods of getting to and from the island could be retired, and because of the number of people required to run and maintain the train and track, there were plenty of new job openings available.

"So, with that said-" the man at the podium went on, until a loud humming cut him off. Turning around, he watched as the lights in the train started to come on, followed by the wheels slowly beginning to turn. He quickly leaned in to whisper to one of the security personnel standing by. "...W-Was there supposed to be a test run today?"

"No, sir," the guard replied, signalling two others nearby to follow him to the train. As the man at the podium tried to keep the audience calm, the trio of security guards made their way to the nearest car of the train. The three managed to force the door open, but were quickly met with what looked to be a small wrecking ball on a long chain, knocking them off the car and sending them tumbling to the ground. At this point, the audience knew, beyond any doubt, that something was very, VERY wrong.

"What the hell?!" the man at the podium cursed, just as a man in a yellow ski mask peered out the open door. "Who?!"

"Sorry, couldn't wait for the first ride!" the man with the wrecking ball taunted, shutting the door. As the train began to speed along the tracks, he walked along to the front cars, meeting up with his comrades, all wearing differently coloured masks and carrying very basic-looking weapons. "Can you believe how frickin' easy this was?!"

"Yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves, Eliot," a man in a purple mask clutching a crowbar replied. "We're not outta the woods yet."

"C'mon, Dirk, the charges are set, we're on route to our pick-up, and the only doofuses that could stop us are lying on their asses back there," a young woman in an armoured helmet and shoulder pads noted. "What the hell could go wrong?"

As if on cue, the train shook a bit, as if something had latched onto it. The others all looked to the woman with glares that just screamed 'You had to say it' as a large part of the roof was suddenly cut through by what looked like some kind of blow torch. Following that, a quartet of young men and women in red and dark blue uniforms dropped down into the train, their suits emblazoned with a golden star. They consisted of a Caucasian redheaded girl, a Black Hispanic male, a blond with blue eyes, and a Pakistani-American girl.

"This is the part where you guys surrender," the blond boy noted cockily.

"Crap, it's the Marvel Corps!" Eliot cursed, immediately swinging his wrecking ball at the group, only for the redhead to lift a hand and stop it in midair. "What the-?!"

The redheaded girl grunted a little as the wrecking ball started to shake in the air. "Can't...hold it...!"

"Marvel Corps, attack!" the Pakistani-American girl yelled, winding up her fist before swinging it forward, her arm extending to smack Eliot in the face.

"Who made you boss, Kamala?!" the blond demanded before getting smacked with a shovel by a young man in a tan mask.

"Worry about rank later, Johnny!" the Black Hispanic teen yelled, firing a sort of web-like line from his wrists as the two sides went into an all-out brawl. He used them to catch the boy with the shovel and swung him hard into a seat. The boy tried to throw his shovel at the web-slinger, but quickly found himself stuck to the seats with more webbing. "Now, be a good boy and not dig yourself any deeper!"

"Brian, Merci, toss 'em!" Dirk, the man with the crowbar, barked, leading to the armoured girl and a man in a red mask leaping ahead with him. Merci tackled hard into Miles, sending him crashing through a window, only barely managing to catch the train with his webbing. Meanwhile, Dirk charged forward, nailing Kamala across the face, only for her to stretch out and catch the hand bars with her limbs, while Brian grabbed ahold of Johnny and slammed him spine-first into the floor.

"Maybe YOU should surrender, tough guy?!" Brian suggested, picking Johnny up.

"Yeah, how about this: FLAME ON!" Johnny yelled, his body suddenly coating itself in flames that burned at Brian's hands. He then formed a tiny fireball in his hand and threw it into Brian's face, knocking him back.

"Team, I'm detecting heat signatures ahead of the train!" a female voice called over the comm links placed in the team's ears. "They could be charges of some sort!"

"How long?!" the redhead demanded, telekinetically prying chairs from the floor and hurling them at Merci and Dirk.

"A minute at best!" the voice replied. "You've gotta stop the train!"

Hearing this, Johnny hovered off the ground and flew ahead, burning his way through the doors to the main controls, only to find them all but completely melted down. "...Oh, crap. Parker's gonna be pissed..."

"Jean, can you stop it?!" Kamala asked, curling herself into a ball and flinging herself into Eliot's gut.

"It's too big and fast!" the redhead, Jean, replied. "I can't hold it! Miles?!"

"I'll give it a shot!" Miles called from outside the train, web-swinging to the front of the train. Once there, he started shooting webs rapidly at the tracks and sticking them to the front, trying to stop the train's movement, only for them to instead pry parts of the tracks free. "Looks like they made this thing a little too good!"

"Hang on!" Kamala shouted, launching herself out the front windows as hard as she could before her body began to expand. By the time the train reached her, she'd grown to at least 10 feet tall. With a yell, she threw her hands forward and dug her heels in hard, catching the front of the train as she tried to stop it. Unfortunately, she was at best slowing it down.

"I can't hold it ba-" Kamala started to say. However, before she could finish, a rush of red and blue smacked into the front of the train, stopping it completely. Looking down in astonishment, she saw a blonde woman in the same uniform as the team holding the train in place. "...M-Major?!"

"I've got this!" the woman yelled. "Disable the bomb!"

"I'll take care of that!" Johnny exclaimed, sailing out of the train and flying toward an explosive set on the rails ahead. Throwing a hand out, he launched a stream of fire that blew the bomb apart, along with most of the tracks around it. "...Oops."

"Well, I could've done THAT!" Miles groaned as he got up on Kamala's shoulder. "Think you could cause a little MORE property damage?!"

"Uhh, guys?!" Jean yelled from the roof of the train, the five robbers all assembled atop it. "A little help, please?!"

"Hold this, will you guys?!" the blonde woman asked, letting go of the train for Kamala and Miles to hold back. Meanwhile, she flew up over the train and rushed the robbers, firing yellow photonic blasts from her hands to disarm them of their weapons before punching them up into the air one by one. "Jean!"

Jean nodded, raising her hands up and catching the group telekinetically. Before they had a chance to react, she slammed them all together before dropping them onto the roof of the train. With the five hijackers out of commission, the Major hit an unseen button on her wrist to bring up a holographic schematic of the train, revealing the flow of power through the cars.

"Miles, the panel at the front of the right side of the second car!" the Major ordered, pointing out the target in question. "Shock it!"

Miles gave a quick nod, launching himself up and over the front car and sticking his hands and feet to the right side of the second car. Spotting the panel in question, he raised his hand up as tiny, near-invisible stingers emerged from the skin of his fingers. He then slapped his hand to the panel, releasing a small burst of energy through the stingers. Within a few seconds, the train and its power stuttered, shook, and stopped completely, allowing Kamala to finally ease up and shrink back down to her regular size.

"...Ugh...Well, call the sheriff, 'cuz we just stopped a train robbery," Kamala panted, the five members of the Marvel Corps gathering. "Thanks for the save, Major Danvers."

The Major nodded, looking to the team-mates one by one. "Just looked like you could stand to use a little assist."

"Please, we had this one," Johnny scoffed as his body returned to normal, getting looks of ire from his comrades. "...What?"

"Oh, nothing, just know that you're going to be working off the debt for the damage you've done to Parker Industries," Major Danvers declared, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Hey, I saved the train from getting blown up!" Johnny argued. "Parker should just feel lucky he's still got a monorail!"

"If you hadn't melted the controls, the Major wouldn't have needed to save our asses!" Miles shot back. "Not to mention you blew up part of the track!"

"Well, I'm not the one who got thrown through a window!" Johnny pointed out, getting dangerously close to Miles. "Aren't you supposed to have some kinda weird precognition thingy that tells you when you're about to get hit?!"

"My Spider-Sense isn't perfect, but I'm working on it," Miles admitted. "At least I don't automatically go for the solution that causes the most damage!"

"ENOUGH!" Jean yelled, telekinetically freezing and shoving the two apart. "Look, this wasn't exactly any of our best showings! Let's just be glad we managed to pull through!"

Miles and Johnny both looked away, letting out stubborn grunts as Jean released them both. With that out of the way, the Major hit a button on her wrist that brought up the holographic image of a jet aircraft, along with a few controls. Flipping the image around and issuing a couple of commands, the hologram quickly faded as the real jet flew in close before softly touching down onto the ground nearby.

"C'mon, team," the Major ordered. "Let's round up the robbers and get out of here..."

* * *

 _ **Five Hours Later**_  
 _ **Marvel Corps HQ, Upstate New York  
**_

Major Carol Danvers let out a low groan, rubbing her temples with her fingertips as she stood in the middle of a small lab. "...Okay, lemme see if I understand correctly: These weapons and equipment are ENCHANTED? An enchanted crowbar, wrecking ball, and so on?"

"Without a doubt," a red haired woman in a lab coat replied, looking over said crowbar as it lay on a scanner. "This type of energy signature is synonymous with magical items we've discovered before."

Carol folded her arms, exhaling through her nose. "Great. Enchanted wrecking crew equipment. Just when the world couldn't get any weirder."

"Well, at least they're safely confiscated," the redhead noted. "In the meantime, don't you have a call to make? A certain government liaison that all but insists on knowing when we go to the bathroom?"

"Right, right," Carol replied, turning to exit the lab. "Keep at it, Wanda. Anything else you can find out about these things would be greatly appreciated."

Leaving the lab, Carol walked through a long, glass hallway, overlooking a small hangar with three different jets set up inside. At the end was a lift door. Pressing a button, she waited for the door to open, revealing the lift, with Johnny Storm standing inside, looking a bit tired out and embarrassed as he stepped to the side to let his superior in.

"Office, Danvers," Carol said into the lift speaker as the doors shut. "...You look like you've been busy."

"Been down in the training room," Johnny admitted. "Going over our last mission."

"Trying to figure out where you went wrong?" Carol asked, getting a quick nod. "And?"

"I was in too much of a rush," Johnny explained. "I extended my flames too far and took out the controls trying to reach them too fast."

"Good," Carol replied. "What else?"

Johnny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "And I should've tried disabling or removing the bomb from the rails, since it was set to go off once the energy signature from the train passed over it."

"Which a simple scan from your suit's computer could've told you," Carol finished. "Next time, be less impulsive."

"I know, I know," Johnny muttered, looking to the floor dejectedly. Seeing this look, which was rare for Johnny Storm, Major Danvers reached forward and pressed the halt button, the lift stopping as she looked to him to explain. "...Look, Ms. Danvers, the fact is, I'm just a mechanic with a hot temper. I was never supposed to be anything more than that. All of this, these powers, I'm not cut out for any of it. Whoever or whatever warped me to that other dimension and scrambled my molecules...they picked the wrong guy. Ask anybody on this team, and they'll tell you I don't belong here."

"And yet, you're still here," Major Danvers interjected. "No one's forcing you to stay. And frankly, if you weren't meant to have these powers, why did you survive a process nearly every doctor and physicist in the world says would kill an ordinary human being?"

"I don't know..." Johnny admitted, leaning against the wall.

"Johnny, sometimes we make mistakes in the field," Carol explained. "With some of the insane situations that come up, it's hard to keep focused. What's important is to keep trying and learn from when we screw up. Get better."

Johnny let out a slightly exasperated sigh. "Major, with all due respect, that advice would mean a lot more if it wasn't coming from someone who never screws up on the job."

Carol rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I'm not THAT good. One time, I almost knocked the George Washington Bridge clean into the river."

"Oh God, seriously?" Johnny asked, looking dumbfounded.

Carol shrugged a little. "Well, it was a while ago. Point is, I run with a team for a reason, and I've had to learn from a LOT of mistakes."

Hearing this, Johnny let himself smile a bit. "...So, I shouldn't let the fact that I'm still a teenage screw-up hold me down?"

"Well, not as much as you've been letting it, anyway," Carol replied, pressing the button to let the elevator go back up.

"...So, any chance I could get out of paying Peter Parker for the damages done to the monorail?" Johnny asked.

"Well, we might be able to get you down to just fixing it yourself," Carol suggested with a sly grin. "You being a mechanic and all."

Johnny groaned, face-palming in slight aggravation for his mouth getting him into trouble again. Finally, the lift came to his stop, as the doors opened to reveal a rather irritated-looking Miles, his arms crossed and a small bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

"...Well, Bones, I guess we figured out who held up the elevator," Miles snarked.

"Hardy har, Miles," Johnny muttered, stepping out of the lift before the doors shut. "Listen, about earlier...I'm sorry. I got too hot-headed or whatever, and-"

"It's cool," Miles interjected, waving a hand. "I didn't exactly make things much better myself...I dunno, I gotta work on responding to my Spider-Sense quicker."

Johnny stroked his chin, smirking. "How about this, then: You help me work on controlling myself, and I'll help you with your reaction time."

Miles smiled back, giving a small fist-bump. "Sounds good. Wanna head down to the training room?"

"...Please dear God, no," Johnny begged, his lip trembling. "Where do you think I just came from?"

* * *

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**_ Hey guys, and welcome to my new fic, The Marvel Corps. This was actually an idea I had the other night while trying and failing to sleep (thanks, tooth infection), and with some of the insane possibilities explored or revisited during Secret Wars, I figured I might as well give this one a try. As you can tell, the idea is simple: No aliases, no code-names, no personalized costumes. Just a group of super-powered individuals that make up an organization of peace keepers. And while there are many from various corners of the Marvel Universe that will appear, the story mostly centers around the team of Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, Jean Grey, Miles Morales, and Johnny Storm. Why these five? Well, because they each represent different teams and aspects of the Marvel Universe. Carol is an Avenger, and has worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Kamala is an Inhuman and future Avenger, Jean is a mutant and a member of the X-Men, Miles is one of the Spider-Men, a member of the Ultimates, and a future Avenger, and Johnny Storm is a member of the Fantastic 4, the original Marvel superhero team, and will be working with the Inhumans.

Anyway, not sure if I'm gonna do anything more with this. Might or might not. Be sure to give me your thoughts and feelings on this, since it might help me decide one way or the other. Ja né!


End file.
